Have you ever started painting a room and mid project: your child wakes up, nap time is over, the show it over, kids get home, etc?
It happens to me often. I know when I am in the “zone” I like to just go. You know what I mean? It’s a hard part of motherhood that you often have to stop something you want to do, because a child needs you. It is also one of the blessings. Your child needs you. This season goes so fast.
My little Reagan has been waiting so patiently while I painted her bothers room, my craft room, and our guest/foster care room. She was so excited when I told her we would be starting her room.
She is my fellow crafter. She will color and craft all day, and the moments we get to do it together are some of my favorite moments of being her mom. I knew I needed to include her in the process, but I was not sure quite how. Let’s be honest, I knew there would be crazy drip marks and paint on the carpet (more than my usual mess), if I let her attack the walls. So, I cam up with her own little paint project. I blew up a family portrait of my family’s beach trip (I am one of nine kids) from last summer and got it printed at Staples in their engineer print section. I think it may have cost around $3.00? I used some painters tape to tape it to the wall, pulled out some paint, paintbrush, water, and paper towels and let her go at it. She was so excited!
She was painting before I knew it. I started her accent wall, while she painted our family. It was awesome. We got to talk, hang out together, both do something we love, and just have fun creating. I loved hearing her little giggle as she painted. I would turn and she would squeal, “mom, I just painted daddy BLUE”!
She happily worked on and off her project while I painted her accent wall purple. I can’t wait to show you what else I am going to do to this wall. For now, we moved her painting to the closet, so I could paint the rest of her room a light pink. More about that later as well.
She is so proud of her painting, and I am so proud of her. Being her mom is one of the greatest gifts.
If you’re interested in some of the things pictured above, you can find more info here…
I will probably wait a little while but as the painting gets worn or falls down, I will probably secretly take it down. I’m thinking it might actually make awesome wrapping paper, or maybe I should mail it to one of those family members and say Reagan wanted them to hang it up in their house. Ha!
This was a fun activity for my preschooler. I think it would also be fun to turn this idea into your very own pin the tail on ____________. There are lots of ways to modify this idea to make your own party game. Have you ever blown up a picture and had it printed as an engineer print?
I hope you are having a good week! We had some warmer weather here in Indiana this week and were playing outside in sweatshirts!
for a 
My J loves stickers, and we are constantly working on building a little more confidence and independence in him. This simple craft was something he could do on his own, have fun, create, and make something he was proud of.
There was no glue or paint to clean up. We simply threw away the sticker backs, and his frame was complete. Side note: Peeling sticker backs off can be a task for a preschooler and really practiced his eye hand coordination! The teacher in me had to say that ;).
He made something he was proud of, and I hope built that little self-confidence up while having a blast. I love how the natural background looks with the pop of leaf color. You could always paint it, wrap it with string, or create a paper collage on your frame to make it a little more intricate and a step harder. Another idea is to use this idea for a card rather than a picture frame and write a message inside. The possibilities are endless to stretch or use this technique!
